Cycle Like the Sedins has been a bit, um, dead since I made fun of Charles Wang’s grandkid at the draft. After the season ended, I also couldn’t think of any special occasions to do Puck Pies for. Well, with the return of the sport that drives us all to drink (more on that in a sec), you get the return of Puck Pies.

Weeeee – food!

Last night’s 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets led to some major drinking, mostly at Taco Mac beforehand and afterwards. For those of you unfamiliar with Taco Mac, it’s Atlanta’s local bar chain with the most hugerist beer list in the free world. There’s one attached to Philips Arena that has to do a killer business after Thrashers’ games – it did a good one after last night’s.

There’s an appetizer dish that my good friend Courtney (overlord of Chicks Who Give a Puck) tried when she was down here in April and fell in love with – poblano queso. It’s good. It’s damn good… and it’s so damn good that she got three photos of it sent to her phone by various folks at once. Witness:

Yep. It’s awesome, and after the jump I’ll tell you how to make it at home.

Here’s all you need:

1 package of queso blanco (NOT queso fresco – it doesn’t melt at all)

1lb of lean ground beef – you don’t want the grease in the dip

1 poblano pepper

1 small roma tomato

Green Onions

Taco Seasoning

Chop the onions and poblano pepper. The pepper should be cut in half – one half should be diced and mixed into the dip, and the other half should be sliced into rings. The diced pepper needs to be cored and seeded first, but the sliced pepper can retain the seeds for a little kick if you wish. The tomato should be sliced in half and cored as well, and then diced.

Prep the ground beef and taco seasoning according to the instructions on the packet, but only use half of the packet of seasoning – you don’t want the taste to overwhelm the dip. Cheese is wonderful – especially when you can taste it. Set aside the ground beef.

In the microwave melt the cheese in a serving dish, or if you have a mini-crock pot, use that. Actually, I suggest the crock pot to cut back on the chance that the dip’ll asplode all over the microwave. It also heats the cheese more evenly. Combine the cheese, diced poblano peppers, and the well drained (WELL DRAINED) beef. Place in serving dish, and top with diced tomato, green onions and poblano pepper. Serve with soft flour tortillas, or chips if you prefer.